gled with my Adventurous Temperament a turn for
sober Reflection; and I did not fail to Reflect with much seriousness
upon the appalling perils from which I had just, by the Mercy of
Providence, escaped. Setting altogether on one side the Pretty Sight I
should have presented had I been subject to the Hellish Tortures which
this poor crazy Wretch Damiens underwent, I justly conceived an extreme
Horror for this Fiendish yet frivolous People, who could mingle the
twirling of Fans and the sucking of Sugarplums, with the most
excruciating Torments ever inflicted upon a Human Being. At least, so I
reasoned to myself; if we English hang and disembowel a Traitor, at
least we strangle him first; and though the sentence is Bloodthirsty,
the mob would rend 'Squire Ketch in pieces were it known that a Spark of
Life remained in the Body of the Patient when the Hangman's Knife
touched his Breast; but these Frenchmen have neither Humanity nor
Decency, and positively pet and pamper up their Victim in order that he
may be the better able to endure the full effects of their infernal
Spite.

Not without considerable Misgivings did I undertake my new Employment,
the more so as I was both forbidden and ashamed to impart any inkling of
its nature to my dear Mistress. Say what you will, no man that has a
spark of Honesty remaining in him can have much relish for the calling
of a Spy. I tried hard to persuade myself that this was a kind of
Diplomatic Employment; that I was intrusted with Secrets of State; and
that by faithfully carrying out my Instructions, I was serving the cause
of Civilisation, and in my humble way helping to maintain the Peace of
Europe. For in all ages there have been, and in all to come there must
be, sober and discreet Persons to act as Emissaries, to inquire into the
conditions of the People, and bring back Tidings of the Nakedness or
Fertility of the Land. It would never have been known that there was
Corn in Egypt, but for the sagacious Investigations of Messengers sent
to quest about in the interest of a Famished Community. Nevertheless I
admit that, although I spread much such Balsam upon my galled and chafed
Conscience, I could not avoid a dismal Distrust that all these Arguments
were vain and Sophistical. The words, "Spy, Spy, Spy," haunted me both
by day and by night. I saw, in imagination, the Finger of Derision
pointed at me, and heard, in spirit, the wagging of the Tongues of
Evil-minded Men. The worst of it